The Life in My Years

“Too clever by half.”

It’s a Britishism; one of those slang phrases from across the pond that has us Americans scratching our heads trying to solve an expression that sounds contradictory at best and at worst, like downright gibberish.

“Too clever by half,” was coined in 1858 by George J. Whyte-Melville in his book,” The Interpreter, and it means “too smart for one’s own good.” It was a futile head spinning exercise for me to try and squeeze the meaning from the idiom. In the end, I failed at it and turned to Google. And it’s possible that Google doesn’t have it right either.

***

During the course of the past year or more, President Biden has been hemorrhaging support from the progressives who helped lift him to office in 2020. It’s been impatience and anger over a variety of issues that includes gun control, student debt and climate change. It hasn’t helped that during his 2020 campaign, Biden made an implied promise that he would be a one term transition to a strong bench of potential candidates for 2024. His decision to run for reelection ran counter to polling that made it clear that Americans do not want to see a rerun of Biden versus Trump. To make matters worse, if not downright dire, support for Biden has been cratering among progressives over the administration’s handling of the war in Gaza.

Those voters, mostly progressives, and I consider myself a progressive, who plan on sticking it to the old man, for whatever reason, are being ‘too clever by half.’

I can speak about Biden annoyance because I’ve experienced it, I’ve written about it and I’ve spoken about it to anyone who will listen. I’ve railed against Biden on this very site, going so far as to promise not to cast a vote for him in November. I’ll admit it. I was being “too clever by half.” I was dead wrong.

***

While bashing Joe Biden, I’d managed to push aside the memory of four years under Donald Trump. Quite frankly, I don’t know how on Earth I could forget the incompetence, the tens of thousands of lies, the kowtowing to the world’s autocrats and the divisiveness that man sowed in America and around the world. And it hasn’t – fucking – stopped.

In normal times a former president would write a memoir, take to the rubber chicken circuit and fade quietly into history, as America separated from the previous administration and moved on. I wish that I could say that there’s been a separation from Trump, but we haven’t been able to enjoy a single fucking solitary second of separation. It’s been a fire hose gush of whining and threats and vile rhetoric and outright unmitigated bullshit from a man who is promising to the world that he intends to be America’s first autocrat.

For years, President Biden has repeated a political slogan that purportedly dates back to 1979 when then Boston Mayor Kevin White, in a speech announcing his bid for reelection, said, “Don’t compare me to the almighty, compare me to the alternative.”

“Don’t compare me to the almighty, compare me to the alternative.” In 2024, not just words to live by, but words to campaign by and to vote by. Words that should remind us that America’s democracy, as flawed as it often has been, and will continue to be if we give it a chance, is on the very brink.

“Don’t compare me to the almighty, compare me to the alternative.”

The “too clever by half” progressives would be smart to heed that warning. Oh, you’re perfectly free to vote for whomever you want. It’s what makes America great. In 2024, it might be what makes America extinct. Go ahead, vote for Cornel West, or Jill Stein, or the ‘nutty ‘professor’ RFK, or Joe Manchin (if the so-called ‘No Labels’ party decides to muck up the works), or any other pretender who’s looking for some fame or is on a personal crusade to ‘give Americans a better choice’ while knowing all the while that he doesn’t stand the proverbial snowball’s chance. You might feel nice and smug and pleased with your conscience on November 6th, the morning after, but when you wake up a year from now, after you helped Trump get back in office, you might just find that in being “too clever by half,” you, as another saying goes, “cut off your nose to spite your face.” Then what are going to say? ‘Oops, I think maybe I fucked up.’

***

Let’s be clear, Donald Trump is no fucking joke. I would suggest to the “too clever by halfers” that they take a short glance back at some Trumpian fiascos. You know, like injecting bleach to ward off covid. That might have been comical if it wasn’t a serious proposal and if millions hadn’t died while Trump fucked around during a pandemic. And then there was a foreign policy that watched North Korea stockpile more nukes; that unilaterally had the U.S. withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear pact; that withdrew from the Paris Accords; that was characterized by a bellicose posture towards NATO that emboldened Putin and at the same time marginalized the American intelligence community.

And the chaos continues today, as Trump has thumbed his nose at judge after judge after judge in his many courtroom cases. It’s been a daily spectacle of disorder in the court, and disrespect that would have any normal person sanctioned, jailed and fined. But, newsflash, Trump is not normal – in any sense of the word. He’s a dangerous, self-absorbed lunatic who’s managed to dupe the rubes and charm the power hungry and the greedy.

And then there’s the daily shit that comes out of his very mouth. There’s his self proclaimed martyrdom and avowed vengeance which has been all the rage (yes, rage as in anger and threats) in MAGA circles since he said, nearly a year ago, “I am your retribution.” It was an unveiled threat launched against his perceived political enemies that he’s been keeping receipts and starting in 2025 there’s going to be hell to pay.

There was his Veteran’s Day tirade in which he unabashedly spoke in Hitlerian terms, pledging “… we will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists, and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country.”

In another rally, he turned to a phrase that is almost literally out of Hitler’s Mein Kampf  *(see note below) when he asserted that immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country.” Trump continued, making certain that there was no doubt where the toxins are coming from, “They’re coming into our country from Africa, from Asia, all over the world.”

Since 2015, his rhetoric has ruined lives and shattered careers. One doesn’t have to take my word for it, just ask the election workers Shaye Moss and Ruby Freeman, who, after having been smeared by Trump and his nutty lawyer, Rudi, have been afraid to answer their phones and use their own names. In court, Moss testified that she was threatened with being lynched. Ask the scores of people who now require round the clock security due to threats from the violent nutjobs who come yipping and slavering to Trump’s dog whistles.

If a little bit of dangerous, fascist rhetoric doesn’t move you, then by all means, take a dive into a future with Trump in office. Take a peek at The 2025 Project, a blueprint for a “new” America, conjured up by the ultra-rightwing Heritage Foundation. Trump has embraced this scheme which includes plans for nothing less than the deconstruction of the government.

The plan envisions defunding the Department of Justice, dismantling the FBI, breaking up the Department of Homeland Security and eliminating the Departments of Education and Commerce. With ties to fossil fuel, the architects of Project 2025 plan to gut the Environmental Protection Agency. Project 2025 also calls for giving the president complete control over the Federal Communications Commission. Roger Thomas Severino, a religious zealot and one of the architects of the plan has called for regulations “prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, transgender status, sex characteristics, etc,” to be rescinded. Not surprisingly, Project 2025 calls for the destruction of the wall between church and state. According to a report issued by The Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE), Project 2025 sees an America that, “must remain Christian, that Christianity should enjoy a privileged place in society, and that the government must take steps to ensure this is clear in every section of the plan, as is the idea that American identity cannot be separated from Christianity.” That’s right, Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, and above all, atheists, need not apply.

If Trump himself isn’t scary enough by himself, a look into a potential cabinet reveals a veritable closet of horrors. A list of potential Vice Presidents includes:
Kari Lake, the batshit election denier who is living under the delusion that she’s the rightfully elected Governor of Arizona.
South Dakota’s Kristi Noem, the God fearing Christian Nationalist who believes that happiness is a warm AR-15.
Melania is reportedly leaning towards the screeching Tucker Carlson. Take a few moments to reflect on Tucker Carlson being second in line behind an overweight cheeseburger guzzling octogenarian president and potentially having access to the nuclear codes.

Other members on a potential short list include:
Stephen Miller for Attorney General. Yeah, that Stephen Miller, the guy who has been an active pusher of the “great replacement theory.”
White nationalist Steve Bannon as Chief of Staff.
It’s been suggested that Kash Patel is in line for a high level position in national security. Patel has a history of spewing authoritarian rhetoric. In a podcast hosted by Bannon, Patel promised, “We will go out and find the conspirators, not just in government but in the media. Yes, we’re going to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens, who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections – we’re going to come after you. Whether it’s criminally or civilly, we’ll figure that out. But yeah, we’re putting you all on notice.” He added, “We’re actually going to use the Constitution to prosecute them for crimes they said we have always been guilty of but never have.”

These real, flesh and blood ghouls will make your childhood closet ghosts seem like cherubs.

***

I hate the fact that I’m having to vote – again – not for a transformational candidate. I would truly love to be able to vote for AOC for president but that’s not happening. Instead, here I am voting  against a candidate who is the worst of the worst who I’ve ever voted against. In past elections Mitt Romney was the bogeyman who would destroy healthcare. Before that, John McCain was the warmongering hawk. What I wouldn’t give now for a Romney or a McCain.

***

Biden’s public posture on the war in Gaza is baffling from a political point of view, as well as troubling and disappointing from a humanitarian point of view. I’m hoping that Biden and Antony Blinken are working back channels and behind the scenes in order to stop Israel’s scorched earth warfare.

It’s the administration’s refusal to take a firm stand against Israel’s relentless offensive and refusal to demand a ceasefire that is pushing an already wavering and disappointed, young and progressive electorate to the point of hatred and irresponsibility.

Is the administration fucking up in its Gaza stance? Absolutely. I’ve been vocal in my criticism of the United States’ unconditional support for Israel. But there is a fine line that should be drawn between criticizing U.S. policy and going overboard in bashing the President such as articles that I’ve seen stating that Biden is perfectly on board with genocide.

At this crucial time, voters should ask themselves if a President Donald Trump will be better for the Palestinians than Joe Biden. It’s a yes or no answer.

And then ask some of the follow-up questions.

Who would be worse for Ukraine?

Questions lead to more questions.

What happens if Trump is elected and the U.S bails on Ukraine?

Will this embolden Putin to go after Poland?

And if so would Trump violate Article 5 of the NATO treaty which says an attack on one is an attack on all?

And if so, would more former Soviet Bloc nations that are now enjoying freedom, be thrust back into the yoke of Russian domination?

The younger voters weren’t born when there was an ‘Iron Curtain’; when the Cold War was a real thing; when people in Eastern Europe yearned for freedom. I was recently in Czechia and one thing that stood out was how the Czechian people cherish the democracy that they didn’t have for the over 45 years that they were in the Soviet sphere. It dawned on me that they cherish their democracy more than nearly half of Americans cherish their own. They care more about their democracy than the American voters who want to stick it to ‘old man’ Biden over whatever their gripe du jour is.

You want to sit out the election? You want to vote for Jill Stein, who fucked things up in 2016 and is apparently on board with doing it again?

If you’re okay with spiting Biden because he didn’t come through on your pet issue (even though a bellicose, shit show of a GOP Congress might have been the real reason) then you must be okay with:

The suspension of parts of the Constitution.

The jailing and prosecution of journalists and others who would oppose Trump.

Further restrictions on the right to choose, along with draconian measures such as the jailing and prosecution of women who suffer a miscarriage (it’s happened in Oklahoma and nearly happened in Ohio).

The literal transformation of America into Margaret Atwood’s, Gilead.

The Christianization of America, turning the country into a perversion that is ruled by Biblical myth rather than by science, reason, and the Constitution.

The suspension of rights for the LGBTQ community.

The persecution and prosecution of people exercising their rights to assemble and to protest. I recently saw a protest sign on social media that said, ‘Biden. War Criminal.’ In an authoritarian state, that does not end well for the person carrying the sign. It wasn’t that long ago that Trump ordered Park Police and National Guardsmen to tear gas a peaceful protest at Lafayette Park in D.C. just so that he could walk to a church and hold up a copy of the Bible that he doesn’t even believe in.

The further weakening of The Voting Rights Act.

A climate crisis made worse by a president who thinks that global warming is a hoax perpetrated by China.

It bears repeating that if you’re withholding your vote for Biden then you’re okay with all of the above and any other calamities that might befall our personal lives, America and the world.

Don’t whine about it come 2027 when American democracy and the Constitution are just so much trash. Don’t nostalgically wish for the good old days when we had our freedoms. Don’t think that a snap of the fingers will bring a democracy back. A democracy doesn’t just come back because you’d like it to. In 1986 it took thousands of Filipinos to take to the streets and to literally stand in front of tanks to depose Ferdinand Marcos.

At this time, when everything is in the balance, all clear thinking, non-delusional voters need to support and vote for President Biden. No protest votes in blue states this time around. Trump must thoroughly and without a doubt be thrashed in November so that MAGA politics will be sent back to the hell from whence it came.

This is not the time to be too clever by half.

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*In Chapter XI, of Mein Kampf, Hitler wrote, No more than Nature desires the mating of weaker with stronger individuals, even less does she desire the blending of a higher with a lower race, since, if she did, her whole work of higher breeding, over perhaps hundreds of thousands of years, night be ruined with one blow. Historical experience offers countless proofs of this. It shows with terrifying clarity that in every mingling of Aryan blood with that of lower peoples the result was the end of the cultured people. North America, whose population consists in by far the largest part of Germanic elements who mixed but little with the lower colored peoples, shows a different humanity and culture from Central and South America, where the predominantly Latin immigrants often mixed with the aborigines on a large scale. By this one example, we can clearly and distinctly recognize the effect of racial mixture. The Germanic inhabitant of the American-continent, who has remained racially pure and unmixed, rose to be master of the continent; he will remain the master as long as he does not fall a victim to defilement of the blood. The result of all racial crossing is therefore in brief always the following:
(a) Lowering of the level of the higher race;
(b) Physical and intellectual regression and hence the beginning of a slowly but surely progressing sickness.
To bring about such a development is, then, nothing else but, to sin against the will of the eternal creator.
And as a sin this act is rewarded.
When man attempts to rebel against the iron logic of Nature, he comes into struggle with the principles to which he himself owes his existence as a man. And this attack must lead to his own doom.

** Project 2025: Presidential Transition Project  https://www.project2025.org/

** Stuart, Tessa. “Inside the Maga Plan to Attack Birth Control, Surveil Women and Ban The Abortion Pill.” Rolling Stone, Rolling Stone, 22 Dec. 2023, www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/maga-plan-attack-birth-control-surveil-women-ban-abortion-pill-1234934807/.

** “‘Project 2025’: Plan to Dismantle Us Climate Policy for next Republican President.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 27 July 2023, www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jul/27/project-2025-dismantle-us-climate-policy-next-republican-president. 

** “Inside the next Republican Revolution.” POLITICO, www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/09/19/project-2025-trump-reagan-00115811. Accessed 17 Jan. 2024.